David Solomon, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, recently wrote an editorial in the Financial Times in which he laid out the premise behind a $750 billon plan for a decade of investing, financing, and advisory activity that will exclusively cover nine climate-critical areas such as renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and carbon reductions.

With this move, Goldman Sachs becomes the first major U.S. bank to prohibit financing for Arctic oil drilling and the first to establish explicit limits on financing for the oil and gas sector.

"Companies have traditionally treated sustainability as a peripheral issue," writes Solomon in the FT, "focusing narrowly on the way they manage their impact on the environment. We don't have the luxury of that limited perspective any more."

"The evidence of climate change is clear. And, people in both developed and developing countries are questioning the ability of their economies to reward their hard work."

Solomon and Goldman Sachs believe that transportation, the largest carbon-emitting sector of the world economy, must absolutely be a priority, while also mentioning affordable education and retraining investments, and investments in sustainable agriculture—the details of which he didn't mention in his short piece.

Goldman Sachs stated that as part of its commitment to the 9-sector plan, it will neither finance, nor advise on any project that "directly supports new upstream Arctic oil exploration or development".

Also included was a similar commitment to refuse all financing and support for coal-fired power plants unless they also included modern carbon capture technology to the degree that the emissions are offset.

A joint statement from the Sierra Club and Rainforest Action Network said that the bank's "fossil finance policy is now the strongest among the big six U.S. banks".

Important in their investing blueprint is a focus on climate goals that have definable and measurable metrics. This will allow Goldman Sachs partners to accurately track environmental progress of such pathways as well as the financial growth potential and measurable returns, which Solomon insists must be a primary focus.

"…capital must be deployed to those opportunities that have the greatest potential for success, and we must generate strong returns on invested capital to serve those saving for retirement," writes Solomon in the FT. This is because retirement is a vitally important source of investment capital, and is one of the most reliable metrics for economic strength.

Here, classic economics meld with climate-activism in an interesting way that can help everyone involved achieve their goals. People who care most about climate change, Swedish activist and Time Magazine's Person of the Year, Greta Thunberg for example, often remark that the previous generation has sacrificed the environment and the climate of their children's generation in order to maximize profit and material possession; or some variation on this same theme. Such a focus can now be used to rev the engine of solution-based start-ups and industries.

Consumer buying is a much weaker marker of economic strength and resilience than savings, investment, and production, as Solomon points out, which goes hand in hand with those acting to reduce carbon emissions. Like a steady saver, they would rather sacrifice time, capital, and pleasure now so as to be able to continue to enjoy them for years to come.

This blending of mutual long-term planning can not only promote a stronger economy, but a more sustainable world with a more stable climate.

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